Comment on this Article

Will the AICPA Take Over XBRL Standards? Companies could be filing XBRL-ready financial statements as soon as 2008. But some observers worry that the definitions corporations will have to follow will be written almost entirely by accountants.

David M. Katz, CFO.com | US
October 30, 2006

In support of XBRL-US

Having been involved in a couple of standards-writing groups (factory automation protocols, electronic data interchange), I support the proposed XBRL spinoff to the AICPA and XBRL-US. Before continuing, I should say that good standards make life easier and more productive for the legions of geeks upon whose shoulders our modern economy rides. Also, an organizational change is obviously due for XBRL, if only to rid us of the word ?taxonomy?.

XBRL could be the most valuable standard since the metric system. Considering the trillions of dollars in play, XBRL must go forward. It needs bullet-proof organization. The proposed approach is brilliant. It combines the light-weight flexibility of XBRL-US with the punch-power of the SEC. For an example of the opposite, see the International Astronomical Union, a huge but impotent body that took seven years to write a definition for the word ?planet? ? that almost everyone hates.

The XBRL-US board/steering-committee is key. It should include members of the mergers and acquisitions community ? the deal-makers. XBRL?s real value is not in filing 10-Ks faster. It will come from simplifying acquisition-integration. Our economy is loaded with ?better mousetrap? companies whose growth stalled or even failed when acquisitions could not be integrated. These are the players whose efficiency-gains can pave the future?s yellow-brick road and pay for XBRL.

Posted by George Brown | Oct 31, 2006 9:54 PM ET